Councilman Thomas Smith of Grafton Village pleads innocent to misdemeanors

ELYRIA — Grafton Village Councilman Thomas Smith pleaded innocent in Elyria Municipal Court to two counts of representation by present or former public official or employee prohibited, according to court records.
Smith is accused of improperly accepting sports tickets from Poggemeyer Design Group of Bowling Green, Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will said.
Will said the firm does business with the village of Grafton. The tickets were allegedly taken in 2009.
Smith’s pretrial is set for 2:30 p.m. Jan. 13 in Judge Gary C. Bennett’s courtroom.
According to the Ohio Revised Code, “No public official or employee shall use or authorize the use of the authority or influence of office or employment to secure anything of value or the promise or offer of anything of value that is of such a character as to manifest a substantial and improper influence upon the public official or employee with respect to that person’s duties.”
Smith will leave his seat as councilman at the end of the year after losing his re-election, Will said.
The grand jury had indicted Smith, but because they are two misdemeanor counts, it was sent back to Elyria Municipal Court, the prosecutor said.
Elyria City Prosecutor Matt Mishak will get a special prosecutor to handle the case because of a conflict of interest, Will said.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation handled the case, Will said, after he recommended that former Grafton Police Chief Lonnie Carroll bring in an agency to handle the investigation into Smith.
Village Council voted unanimously last year to fire Carroll. In a letter Carroll received, Grafton Mayor Megan Flanigan wrote that she determined that “it is now time for a change.”
Flanigan did not return a call seeking comment on the investigation or whether Carroll’s firing was related to Smith’s investigation.

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